


Three's A Crowd

by Elevensins



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M, eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 06:57:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3682359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elevensins/pseuds/Elevensins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony hates it when there's too much downtime at the tower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three's A Crowd

Tony sincerely hated it when there was excessive downtime at the tower. Excessive meaning more than a week with no crisis arising needing the Avengers to step in to save the day. Hydra had ducked away with its tail between its legs. Loki was back in Asgard, in chains and a muzzle, the Red Skull and his cohorts were strangely silent. No one was up to anything negative and for once, they had time to relax. 

Which made it rather awkward between two members of the team, plus one. 

Steve Rogers lived at the tower, having no where else he really belonged anymore. With him came Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier who needed asylum and Tony’s army of lawyers to keep him out of the hands of the US Government, and a dozen other governments as well. Tony didn't mind Steve being there. It was a large tower and they avoided one another easily. Bucky made it a bit more tricky, however. Because Tony was the one working on his arm.

That usually meant Steve was hovering nearby, always the mother hen watching over the broken creature that had been his best friend. So Tony not only had to deal with the mute, not all there upstairs Winter Soldier, but also Steve, who was blonde, beautiful and way too attached to his best friend.

Tony wondered if at some point there was something more between them back before, during the war. The thought of it bothered him on a small level. He’d had a crush on Steve since he was a kid, watching old Captain America movies from the 40s on his father’s home movie projector. Seeing Steve alive, in the flesh, that didn't help his boyhood crush, amplified by the fact that Tony was an adult now, with a long history of sexual misadventures. Or so Pepper liked to call them.

Watching the way Steve looked at Bucky, well, it stung a little bit. What he would have given to have Steve look at him like that someday. Or anyone, really. If he’d ever seen the physical manifestation of love, it was in Steve’s eyes when Bucky said something, did something, made a decision for himself instead of waiting for orders. 

So Tony tried to look anywhere but right at Steve as he worked on Bucky’s arm. He wondered instead who had the nerve to claim the cybernetic limb was beyond his genius. Oh it was a puzzle, and he figured it out within a day and got to work not only fixing it, but enhancing it. Hydra only wanted a weapon, so anything unnecessary, like daily comfort of said weapon, wasn’t even thought of. Tony made the arm more flexible, less clunky and gave it increased sensitivity and response time between cybernetic nerve centers and Bucky’s brain. When he was done, Bucky would be able to feel the petal of a flower again. 

It gave him ideas. Stark Industries had given up on weapons long ago, moving instead into clean energy alternatives. But, this kind of technology could enhance the lives of thousands of people who had lost appendages in some way. Or been born without them. He was already conceiving a line of cybernetic limb replacements when Bucky suddenly jerked his arm away. 

“Ow!” he said sharply, fixing a glare at Tony with those dull blue eyes. “What did you do? That hurt.”

Tony paused for a moment, then grinned. “Did it? You remember it hurting like that before?”

He knew the answer already, and watched it dawn on Bucky’s face. He flex his hand briefly, marveling in the sensation of it. “I… I can feel. I mean, more than before.”

Before, Tony knew, all Bucky could really feel from his arm was heat sensors letting him know if things were overheating or warning him of pressure or damage. Nothing to actually make him feel pain or anything else. 

Abruptly Bucky reached out toward Tony with his metal hand, feeling the sleeve of his t-shirt for a moment, then running his knuckles along the back of Tony’s cheek. “You need a shave.”

Steve laughed out loud at that, reminding Tony he wasn’t alone in the room with Bucky. He reached up to grasp Bucky’s hand and set the arm down again. “Yeah, well, I’ll turn the sensitivity down so I can finish working on this. Don’t need you jerking in your chair every time I hit a nerve strand.”

Bucky settled back in his seat again, watching Tony warily as he continued soldering. Not another word, though, mostly because Tony had done as he said he would, cranking the sensitivity down to the point that the most Bucky might feel was a slight prick. 

When he finally looked up to announce his work was finished, he found the words stuck in his throat for a moment. Bucky was looking at him, head canted slightly to the side. It wasn’t the usual flat stare, but an expression of such desiderium that suddenly Tony wondered if Bucky had the hots for his father back in the day. Because he couldn’t fathom a reason why Bucky would look at him like that. 

“Bucky?” Steve said and both of them looked at him. Those blue eyes flickered back and forth between them and Tony could have cut the awkwardness of the moment with a knife.

“I’m done,” Tony said, deciding to be that knife. “Turned up the sensitivity again, Barnes. Let me know if it’s overwhelming, wouldn’t want you twitching just to feel cold water or something.”

Bucky rose from the chair, flexing his hand again experimentally. He reached out to grab Tony’s coffee cup. It wasn’t piping hot, but warm enough to be felt. For a moment, he swore he saw the sides of Bucky’s lips curl up. 

“It’s fine,” he said flatly, the neutral expression returning so quickly Tony would question what he saw for hours afterward. “I’m hungry, let’s get something to eat, Steve.” 

He brushed past Steve, who stood there for a moment, sharing a look with Tony. A shrug of his shoulders and the feel of Bucky’s eyes boring holes into his back as he waited in the doorway. “We’ll talk later,” he said and followed his long time friend out of the workshop.


End file.
